Brighid's Ogham Grove

Hidden in a French forest is a grove, dedicated to an ancient Celtic Goddess, cared for by two old crones, who are writing this blog on life in many different dimensions…..

Brighid's Ogham Grove
Brighid's Ogham Grove
@yangearthdog07dcc94eef@brighidsoghamgrove.com

Writer, historian, philosopher, environmentalist and lots more besides!

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  • MAKING FRUIT VINEGARS FROM FIRST PRINCIPLES by Veronica Smith

    My family started making wine years ago, to use up surpluses of fruit from our suburban garden.  Then, when we moved to the country, we had surplus vegetables too and vinegar became another alternative to wine-making.  What better way to preserve them than by old-fashioned pickling? The problem was finding vinegar recipes that worked from…

  • RESPECTING ONE’S ELDERS by Veronica Smith

    In ancient Ireland, the Elder (Sambucus nigra) was part of a trio of Sacred Trees revered by the Celts as Herbal Healers. Hawthorn was “Father”, working with the heart and circulatory system; Elder was “Mother”, working with the respiratory system and skin; Birch was “Child” healing the Liver. Even up to 40 years ago, it…

  • CURRANT AFFAIRS! By Veronica Smith

    What do Black, Red and White Currants, Gooseberries, Jostaberries and Worcesterberries have in common? For a start, they all belong to the same botanical family Grossulariaceae, of the genus RIBES. All of them are deciduous, producing edible fruit and provide an excellent source of Vitamin C and Pectin. They are native throughout the temperate regions…

  • REMARKABLE RHUBARB! by Veronica Smith

    Whether you love it or hate it, Rhubarb (Rheum Palmatum / Rhabarbarum) is one of the earliest edible garden plants ready in the spring! Depending on your geographical position, you can start picking rhubarb stalks from March right up until the autumn. IS IT A FRUIT OR A VEGETABLE? Although usually served as a desert,…

  • HAWTHORN: HEARTS AND HEDGEROWS by Veronica Smith

    The flowering of the Hawthorn in May has always heralded the start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. May Day / Labour Day on the 1st May is merely the modern name for the ancient Celtic Fire Festival of Bealtaine (Beltane), a celebration of life and fertility, when the Great Wheel of the year turns…

  • MEDICINAL BENEFITS OF BRAMBLE LEAVES IN SPRING AND EARLY SUMMER

    by Veronica Smith Bealtaine (1st May) is the perfect time to pick BRAMBLE LEAVES for drying. It is the sappy young leaves at the top of the vine that you want because they are full of vitamins and minerals. The re-growth after strimming is ideal. According to Thomas Bartram in his ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HERBAL MEDICINE,…

  • A song from an Irish Emigrant

    It was 2017. I loaded my elderly Fiat Punto with my worldly goods and took the ferry from Rosslare (Ireland) across to Cherbourg (France). I was doing what generations of Irish people have done for hundreds of years. I was leaving my homeland to go live in a foreign country. Many French people ask me…

  • ST GEORGE AND THE DANDELION by Veronica Smith

    ST GEORGE AND THE DANDELION By Veronica Smith The 23rd of April is DANDELION DAY, according to Freda Davis’ Blue Ball Press “Moon Calendar”. It’s a date shared with St George, the deity associated with the Dandelion. Both play an important role in the Celtic Festival of BELTANE, a celebration of cleansing Fire and transformational…

  • MY FRENCH OGHAM GROVE by Veronica Smith

    I am not a gifted artist and craftsperson, like Yuri Leitch, but I am a gardener, who loves trees and owns some land. So, I decided to plant a living Ogham Grove, with a French twist! Basse-Normandie is famous for its apple and pear orchards, from which is made cider and perry and brandy. In…

  • BRIGHID: BOTH GODDESS AND SAINT

    BRIGHID: Both Goddess & SaintBy Veronica Smith Who is Brighid? Many people know her as Saint Brighid, the 5th century Irish Christian monastic who, along with Saint Patrick, is the Patron Saint of Ireland. Saint Brighid was renowned for healing the sick, feeding the poor and championing the marginalised. Many ancient healing wells are named…